By Tom Webber | Development Director
The volunteers at the BridgIT Water Foundation want to express our profound gratitude to the contributors to the Year-End 2018 fundraising campaign for new water wells in rural Andhra Pradesh, India villages. The money raised has allowed BridgIT to build 5 new wells and provide fresh, clean water to about 5,000 people. Thank you!
Please review the excellent and extensive report attached to understand better the profound impact providing clean water to rural villages throughout the world can have. While this fundraiser focuses on wells in India, BridgIT is also working in Uganda, Ethiopia, and Nepal, and is currently conducting due diligence for projects in Tanzania, Malawi, and Myanmar.
The current set of villages was selected because of the scarcity of potable water for the villagers, and the high rates of illness from water-borne pathogens, particularly among children. When children and adults fall ill from drinking contaminated water, it exacerbates the condition of extreme poverty because people can't work and students can't attend school. Wells centrally located in the villages solve a multitude of problems for the people by reducing illnesses and freeing up hours per day that were previously spent searching for water – giving people more opportunities to work, raise family incomes, and escape the trap of poverty. Kids are to attend school more regularly, giving hope for a better life in the future. Many other villages throughout the developing world need the same opportunity, which is why BridgIT Water will continue to fundraise for more wells in various countries.
The partner report explains and illustrates the process of locating, drilling, and finishing the wells. There are links to a number of YouTube videos, and you can also find some links below. You can also view photos and videos from the celebrations held in each village that commemorate the completion of the well. There are a number of heartfelt testimonials from women in the village who previously had to endure the chore of walking kilometers to collect containers heavy with contaminated water. These wells have truly changed their lives. Thank you.
BridgIT Water’s partners extend the value of these wells by teaching the adults and children about water conservation, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). This is very important, because simple things like washing hands have not been a priority, and sanitation and hygiene reduce illness rates, with the same benefits as described above. Please check the link.
Thank you to the supporters of BridgIT Water for helping to bring safe, clean water to 5,000 people in these 5 Indian villages. This is an ongoing fundraiser, so please consider ongoing support for this cause. Please share this fundraiser with family, friends, colleagues, and social networks so together we can build more wells and help more people living in rural Indian villages.
BridgIT Water plans to post a new crowdfunding campaign on GlobalGiving for an important well refurbishment project in rural Ethiopia. Please keep an eye out for updates. Thanks for supporting the BridgIT Water Foundation's work.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
